Portable electronic apparatus such as personal organisers, portable computers, radio telephones and the like are common place. By virtue of their portability such electronic apparatus are easily misplaced or stolen. This makes such apparatus vulnerable to misuse by an unauthorised person, such as accessing personal or confidential information. More particularly, in the case of a radio telephone an unauthorised person is able to make telephone calls which are charged to the owner of the radio telephone, mischievously reset settings for the radio telephone or access personal or confidential information such as the telephone numbers of other telephone subscribers.
To overcome such problems it is known to provide portable electronic apparatus with security locks capable of being activated and/or deactivated manually by the use of passwords or codes for example, known only to authorised users of the apparatus. However, it is typically the case that a user places the apparatus in a charger or desk stand on their desk during normal use, and wishes to have the apparatus unlocked and available for use most of the time, such that they can be contacted on it. The user does not wish to bother themselves with activating any locks or security access codes for momentary absence from the apparatus, such as temporarily leaving their office However, such momentary absence still leaves the apparatus vulnerable to theft and misuse.